Ever After
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: July 31, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
NewsweekLaura Shapiro and Corie Brown
This complex tale is told with great buoyancy and wit thanks to the splendid performances. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsRobert Dominguez
The pleasure of Ever After is that it never takes itself seriously. [31Jul1998, Pg. 47]
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The radiant Barrymore energizes Cinderella with a tough core of intelligence and wit. Read full review
80
The New YorkerBruce Diones
The film swings from farce to soap opera and back again—but it's got enough girl-power moments to make a Spice Girls fan happy. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
In this modern retelling of the well-known fable, she is one princess-in-waiting who does not need rescuing by any knight in shining armor. [31 Jul 1998, Pg. N.47]
80
VarietyLeonard Klady
Barrymore continues to prove herself as a performer of extraordinary range and charisma, and is simply sublime in the leading role. Read full review
80
SalonCharles Taylor
Casting Barrymore as Cinderella is an inspired idea, and a tribute to director Andy Tennant's ability to see through the public's perception of Barrymore to her essence as a performer. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Obviously, Barrymore is not ideally cast outside modern times, but her presence is so good-natured that she makes an audience want to work with her. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
Tennant and company do a fine job of retaining the otherworldliness of a fairy tale while at the same time explaining all the archaisms for a modern audience. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Well, I didn't exactly leave the theatre barefoot, but there's a lot to like here -- the result is pretty darn cute and hardly ever cloying. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Once upon a time there was a feisty young woman who didn't sit around twiddling her pretty thumbs and singing "Someday My Prince Will Come." That's the revisionist spin on Cinderella, and it twirls very nicely. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Here, as the little cinder girl, she is able to at last put aside her bedraggled losers and flower as a fresh young beauty, and she brings poignancy and fire to the role. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
There's no reason for stretching this tale to more than two hours, but Huston is amusingly tart as the stepmom, and it's hard to resist a movie that substitutes Leonardo da Vinci for the traditional fairy godmother. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Tennant takes this familiar material and crafts a charming, captivating motion picture. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Their blossoming love is thwarted at every opportunity by wicked stepmother Anjelica Huston, whose practical motive -- she wants her own daughter to become queen -- is part of an unusually nuanced characterization. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The playful and well-meaning spirit of the film carries it through its shakier moments of awkward narration and inscrutably busy camerawork. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Between bouts of decisive action, the characters mill around the French countryside (in lovely costumes, to be sure, by Jenny Beavan) as if unsure of which sexual stereotype to bust next. Read full review
63
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
Too much talk, not enough wooing. In the end, Ever After's spell is only half cast. [31 Jul 1998, Pg. 07.E]
60
EmpireIan Nathan
Not an altogether unsuccessful adaptation of the timeless Cinderella story, it certainly scores well in terms of lavish scenery, snappy repartee and brightly-coloured mayhem. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
While it's difficult to dislike what this film tries to do, the way it does it is more problematic. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Veering wildly between farce and suds, the movie never makes up its mind whether it's a spoof, a soap opera or a feminist pep talk. Read full review
10
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
It's... directed by Andy Tennant ("It Takes Two") with all the flair of an episode of "7th Heaven", making it that much more worth avoiding. Read full review
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